Yellowstone Trip

Wow, I can't believe this summer's almost done. We were lucky enough to take a trip to Yellowstone before Casey started back to work. We spent 3 nights there with the kids in a tent...and we had a blast.

The kids were great, loved the outdoors, and surprisingly slept wonderfully. They were excited to see all of the animals and play in the dirt to their hearts delight. We were able to see quite a few Buffalo/Bison up close and also some elk, but no Moose or Bear (I'm okay with that). The campgrounds did a great job of posting signs in the restrooms of Buffalo and Bear attacks to keep you on your toes. We had some sporadic weather while we were there, but we survived and it kept it interesting! Our tent issues started as we arrived past midnight our first night. We then discovered that we had forgotten our rain fly, and the forecast was for rain. We placed out picnic blanket on top of us, but got lucky in that it didn't rain that night as we all cuddled up on the floor together. The next day we moved sights and placed out tarp over the top, which came into good use several times throughout our trip.

One of our favorite stops was a trip to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and it's falls. They were beautiful. We hiked down the 375 steps to reach this lookout point, which was beautiful. More amazingly to us, was that Aidan was able to walk all the way down and back up with no problem. He has sure built up a lot of strength in this last year and it doing great!
Our kids have been pretty good at posing for pictures lately. So much so that at times, they won't give you a nautral simle, but we love them!
Here are the falls from another lookout point. It was great to see it upclose, and then to see them from this distance made it's grandeur more amazing.



Old Faithful, was very true to her name. We were able to check it out twice, and we tried to see others... but just missed them. We got to snack on our favorite treat though (ice cream), as it was a very hot day, which we were a little unprepared for.

Overall, a very successful trip that was enjoyed by all. One of my favorite memories if of Mia waking up and chasing the moles/squirrels and calling them "mousey's". The only part I would change would be the drive home. I would have borrowed by neighbors DVD player, as the kids were quite ready to be home. Here are the last of our pics, hope you had a fun summer too!

Mia being her favorite animal

Mia in a fun moment of dance and acting, unfortunately with Aidan's toy noises in the background. Mia's favorite animal is the Elephant. She enjoys stomping and swinging her trunk.

Cabin Vacation

Justin/Cassie and family were able to come and play with us @ my parents Cabin. We were able to stay up for 4 days, and loved the relaxing, book reading, hiking and movie watching. It was a nice surprise, since we probably won't get to do much more since gas prices are so high!! Here we are roasting some marshmallows. Yum

Aidan Turns 4!

Happy Birthday Aidan! What a fun, crazy summer it's been. We've had so much fun celebrating with friends and family. Aidan now has plenty of guns to scare off the bad monsters, a jet, army guys and a fun guitar, (that I think the Dad's have even more fun with). Hope your July has been great!

Kristel and Dustin are Sealed!

Yea, Horray! It was a beautiful day for my beautiful friend to be sealed to her wonderful hubby. We were lucky enough to be a part of their sealing and are very happy for them. Love you Kristel.

Swimming Lessons 2008

Aidan learned lots at his first go @ swim lessons. He loved blowing bubbles and going underwater for snakes!

Wild Hogs 2008

Casey and the Koosharem/Richfield gang headed out 4 wheeling (2nd Annual PARTY). The boys had a blast being out in the brush with nature. I'm hoping that maybe some year I'll be invited to go 4 wheeling, but Cassie and I stayed in Richfield with all the kids and tried to fit a little fun in too.